The Dregs of Wizardry
by jakkuri-n
Summary: Zip forward quite a few years in the magical world. Harry Potter is a well loved memory in the minds of old farts and Voldemort is but a name taught about in the boring modern magical history class at Hogwarts....
1. Introduction

**The Dregs of Wizardry**

This copyright extends throughout the entire story: I do not own Harry Potter. I do, however, make claim on all the characters I use in here. Ha.

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Clocks across the land had just struck midnight and the unison of small cuckoo bells could be heard from house to house. It was a lovely summer nice. The sky was a deep, deep ocean blue and stars were dotted everywhere.

Three owls flew in unison over a small suburban setting. After a few minutes of flying over houses, one owl dropped from the sky, clutching the letter it held in its beak extra carefully as to not lose it. Swooping down between houses, it swiftly darted down an alleyway and darted over a fence.

The other two flew on a bit longer. Eventually the houses dispersed and the poured concrete turned into a little paved road which turned into a simple dirt path. Here, houses were placed at comfortable distances; close enough for neighbors, far enough for privacy. The second of the owls also dropped form the sky and dove for a partially opened bedroom window. The final owl fell from its flight at the house next door and went for a second story window.

The first two birds and their official messages would be ignored until morning. But the final owl was greeted by an arm that extended out of the window of the dark room. It cooed as it softly landed and, pulling the bird inside, Eli Vance took the letter and pat the messenger on the head softly. Turning the parchment over, his grey eyes shining from the light of a single lit lamp, he spotted the seal of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.


	2. Chapter One

It was around 8:30 the next morning that Eli heard the doorbell ring. He stood up from where he'd been sitting on his desk fiddling with an old school shirt and looked to the front door from his window. At seeing who the guests were he gave a smile and dropped the shirt on his bed to be forgotten. He stepped down the stairs of his home and walked the small hallway up to the door as the bell rang again.

Unlocking the door he slowly opened it up, still with the smile on his face. The morning sun caught his features for a moment. The colored black of his hair gave a lustrous sheen and a slight breeze caught the bangs/hair that was always swept to the right side of his head.

"Eli!" A young girl who looked to be around the same age as Eli latched herself to him in a hug that signified that they hadn't seen each other for awhile. Meanwhile, the boy that had shown up at the door with Eli proceeded to perform a simple "handshake" that the two had obviously done as routine for many years. Nothing complicated.

"Dude, nice. You're letting your hair grow longer now?" He gave a nod of approval at how Eli's swoosh of hair reached down right below his shoulder line. Meanwhile, his own hair had obvious signs of recently being dyed and bleached.

"Yeah. I've got it a bit shorter in back though." Eli replied as he patted the head of the girl as she let him go. He made some vague motion to the back of his head, but didn't hold much true interest in it.

"Eli, I wanna come over before we go back to school to fix my hair, sincewe'reonthesubject." The girl looked up at him (Surely there was at least a foot, if not more, of height difference between them.) and tugged at her own black and blue shaggy-short locks. Her voice was most definitely different than her two counterpart's. They both spoke with a slight British accent (It could have been stronger for the region, but still, it was there.) while her's held no accent at all. A strong sign of her early American upbringing.

"Gawd. I can't believe it's time to go back already. That bloody owl woke me up at midnight just to give me the letter. "Leave it somewhere I'll find it!" I told 'em last year. I've told them every year. But noooo. They have to go and wake me up every time!" The boy gave an exasperated sigh and fished his school letter out of his pocket.

Giving a small giggle, the girl got out her letter too and waved it about a bit. "Well, they could not deliver the letter at all Bryon. Would that make you happy?" Bryon started going on a rant about how owls should respect privacy just like humans do and Eli leaned down to the girl's ear to say something.

"Keep him busy for a few seconds, Estelle. I'm going to go grab my letter." She glanced at him for a second and nodded while Eli turned and darted back to his room.

- - - - -

"So, do you think Diagon Alley is going to 'ave changed at all?" Bryon asked the same question every year the three of them had walked down the dirt road on the way to their area's entrance to the magical place. Per usual, Estelle shot back with the answer that she used every year.

"I don't know…. They just may have started giving away dragon eggs for people to raise and I'm sure the Mermaids have finally got that candy shop underway."

Bryon waved her off and finally open his letter.

"I wonder what all we need this year…." His blue eyes zoomed over the writing and he gave a groan. "Boring. Half of the things we need this year are boring! I swear, I'm not enthused _at all_ to get back to Hogwarts."

Estelle gave a sigh. "Oh, come off it. We're in our sixth year. You've one left. What's it matter?"

They began bickering over school stuff while Eli grabbed both of their shoulders and turned them at once off the road and into a small grove of trees. The two paid no attention to the fact that their course had been changed for them and they kept on walking.

Eli stepped around the two and sped ahead of them slightly. He reached the tree first, as intended, and opened a camouflaged door in the trunk of it. Stepping back he held it open for Estelle, who was making a wonderful point on how far they'd come in their magic skill, and Bryon, who was still gloomy over school. Finally he followed the two down the steps inside the door, and closed up the tree behind them.

Torches instantly came to life inside the underground walkway that they were now in. The walkway wasn't considerably tall. In fact, Eli had to bend his neck down to keep his head from scraping along the stone underway. Estelle and Bryon had finally stopped their arguing, which was a sure sign that the excitement of going to Diagon Alley again hit them in a wave.

Needless to say, there was some sort of magic spell at work down there. It only took the trio two minutes to reach another doorway, this one more ornate than that one the tree held though.

Bryon gave a chuckle. "About time we got here." Obviously two minutes was way too long for him.

Eli once again stepped ahead and pushed the door open for the other two. On the other side lay a nice warm home setting; plush furniture, a fresh plate of cookies, and a fire roared away opposite of them. Once everyone had made it through the door, Estelle spoke up.

"Madelia? We're heeeere." Within seconds, a little old witch walked out from a side room.

"Oh! I was expecting you three any time! I'm glad you made it through safely." She walked forward towards the three and extended her arms. Estelle took the invitation (as she did every year) and walked forward to the old woman and gave her a hug.

"Hello grandma. I missed you." She smiled as she said this.

"I think all of us did, Mrs. Hurley." Eli had stepped forward and pecked a kiss onto the woman's forehead. Bryon, meanwhile, had simply walked forward and gave Madelia a nice little pat on the back.

"Grandma, we'd love to stay and talk, but, like always, we need to go get our school shopping done early. I'd hate to have to fight it out over a last copy of one of the books I need. Again."

"Oh, I understand, deary. Just don't go waste your money on any of that overpriced food down there. You know I can make you the same meal, if not better, for free." She turned and walked towards the room she had come out of.

"Of course, grandma." Estelle gave a small chuckle and then stepped her way around large stuffed chairs on her way to the front door.

As soon as all three were outside, they immediately began walking down the road. They did just end up in Diagon Alley after all. It was much easier to use the path to Madelia's house, and the walk the extra 15 minutes to the stores. It was a downhill walk though, and as soon as they turned the corner around another little home, all three went silent to take in the sight before them.

Diagon Alley at the base of the hill, bustling with all it's magical life.


End file.
